


the world will be right again

by Aelig



Series: Comfortember 2020 [8]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Bruce Wayne is Dead, Crying, Damian Wayne is Robin, Dick Grayson & Stephanie Brown are Siblings, Dick Grayson Gets a Hug, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson is Batman, Earth-197, Gen, Grief, Mental Breakdown, Stephanie Brown Gets a Hug, Stephanie Brown Needs a Hug, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl, minor injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27459571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aelig/pseuds/Aelig
Summary: "Everything went well at first but Stephanie hadn't been careful enough as she accidentally knocked a glass against the counter while trying to give it to Dick. The glass broke in an explosion of sharp shards.“Shit!” Stephanie immediately took a step back, letting go of the towel; her hand was throbbing, and she suddenly realized with a fuzzy delay that blood was dripping out of her fist. “Shit,” she said again, more quietly this time. "OR: Bruce is dead, and Dick and Stephanie try to deal with it.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown & Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne
Series: Comfortember 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996051
Comments: 9
Kudos: 140





	the world will be right again

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! I hope you're all okay!! :D
> 
> It's the prompt Lashing Out today :fingerguns: I was supposed to write a real argument and all... but i'm apparently unable of that oops. 
> 
> Thank you to [Gem](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemini_Baby/pseuds/Gemini_Baby) for being my beta on this one!! You're a gem :fingerguns:

The sound of water running welcomed Stephanie when she arrived at the penthouse. She left her school bag in the hallway and entered the kitchen, where Dick was washing the dishes.

Alfred was in France right now, leaving after a call from Julia; he was supposed to come back in two weeks, more or less. Damian was probably in his room, brooding about his day at school that Dick had forced him to attend in the hopes that it would help the kid socialize, but so far no luck. Steph was sure at this point that Damian was being difficult on purpose.

She didn't want to think about the rest of the family.

_(Were they really still a family, after everything? Had she ever been a part of this family or was it just an illusion born from want and longing?)_

“Hey,” she said, looking at Dick's back. He didn't answer, not right away, and she took the time to grab an apple and to start eating.

“Hey. How was school?”

She shrugged, even if he couldn't see her right now, even if she could hear how tired he was in his voice. Stephanie just wanted to pretend. Pretend everything was okay, that their world didn't fall apart, that everyone was still here and talking to each other, that Damian was actually a nice kid and not being a brat, that Bruce-

“Fine,” she muttered.

She didn't want to think, and to remember.

The water stopped, and Dick turned toward her. He had dark circles under his eyes, the same she saw that morning in her mirror before doing her makeup. He obviously hadn't been out today, his very comfy indoor outfit being proof enough. He smiled at her, and she smiled, too, but she could feel the exhaustion in all of her bones, in all of his bones.

Gotham needed Batman and Batgirl, but Dick and Stephanie were running out of energy.

Maybe she should have gone back to her mother's tonight. But it was a habit, to come to the penthouse, to spend the evening with Dick and Damian, to go on patrol with them, to sleep in her room here. She was used to living here, so much that she thought about it at her home more than the apartment she was sharing with her mother. She wondered, sometimes, how things could have been different if her mother never got addicted, if she had stopped before Steph died, if they had been able to reconnect more after her return. She felt guilty too, like she should try more and spend more time with her mother. But it was also hard to hide one half of her life from her, adding to the guilt and secrets and all the things they couldn't talk about.

It was just easier, here, at the penthouse, with people who knew her entirely.

“You want help to put that away?” Stephanie asked, gesturing to the pile of dishes drying on the side.

“Well, I won't say no.”

Dick's smile was a little more sincere this time, and she felt herself relaxing. She grabbed a towel and started the work, passing the dishes to Dick when she had finished.

Everything went well at first but Stephanie hadn't been careful enough as she accidentally knocked a glass against the counter while trying to give it to Dick. The glass broke in an explosion of sharp shards.

“Shit!” Stephanie immediately took a step back, letting go of the towel; her hand was throbbing, and she suddenly realized with a fuzzy delay that blood was dripping out of her fist. “Shit,” she said again, more quietly this time.

Dick had followed her movement, stepping back as well with less grace than his usual self. He was looking down at the glass spread at their feet, frowning, before letting out a sigh. “Stay here. Don't move.”

He was gone the next moment, and Stephanie could hear him searching through a closet. Soon he was back with a broom and a vacuum. It didn't take him a look of time to clear out the floor, and Steph stayed here, blinking a little, her fist still closed, her hand still hurting.

When Dick came back near her the second time, he was still frowning. “You're bleeding,” he said, and she realized he had the first aid kit in his hands.

“I'm fine,” she assured him despite the blood. Dick didn't listen to her and took her fist into his hands, forcing her to open it.

There was a shard of glass sticking into her palm. It wasn't too big, but it would probably require one or two suture points.

Stephanie would probably be banned from patrol tonight.

And the thought – the thought _angered_ her. They couldn't afford to be one less out there. They didn't have the energy, or enough people to take care of everything, it was just bad things waiting to happen. And she felt so, so stupid to be hurt like that, with something so mundane. She could just hear Damian snort at her; the haughty remark he would probably have.

It's was so stupid. She was supposed to be better than that.

“Sit, I'm going to get a look at that,” said Dick, still tired, still taking everything on his shoulders again, like he was doing since Bruce's death.

“I can take care of myself just fine,” Stephanie snapped.

Dick kept her hand in his. “You sit. I'm looking at it.”

And Steph- Steph was angry and tired, and she felt everything boil and burn and _explode_. “I told you that I can take care of myself! Stop looking at me like I'm a child! I fucking know what I'm doing, I'm not a debutante, _I don't need your help!_ ”

Dick's eyes were dark now, and his voice was ice. “If you want me to stop treating you like a child, then stop acting like one. You're being worse than Damian right now. Don't be insufferable, would you? I have enough with one difficult child, I don't need a second one.” He was still clenching at her hand, and she was still in pain, and somehow it was _grounding_ , away from the tempest inside her.

“Try to trust me, for once,” she mumbled between gritted teeth.

Dick squeezed her hand a little, and Stephanie lost her breath – not the pain, not the ache, but she felt like something had broken down inside of her. “I trust you,” he simply said. “Otherwise, you wouldn't be here.”

And the truth was – Stephanie _knew_ that. She knew, and she ached, and she took a breath and broke down crying.

Dick didn't say anything more. He cleaned the cut, and stitched it perfectly, and then bandaged it carefully. She watched him work the whole time, eyes blurry between tears, her nose sniffling, and didn't try to talk.

Then, in the most mother-like gesture she ever saw, Dick raised her hand to his lips and kissed her injury through the bandage. A broken laugh escaped her, and Dick smiled lightly; his eyes were wet, too.

Stephanie started to cry again. The valves were open, now, and she wasn't sure how to close them again. It was like everything from these last months was crashing down, had finally caught up with her and had become a piece of real information in her brain. It was everything at once – Bruce's death, Jason's disappearance, Tim's departure, Cass' abandonment. Dick being Batman, Damian becoming Robin, Cass passing down the Batgirl mantle to her. Moving out of Wayne Manor, living at the penthouse, trying to fix the bridges between her and her mother.

Trying not to think about the grief and the fear and the loneliness.

Stephanie put her arms around Dick's neck and buried her head into his neck. Tears were still slipping out of her eyes, running on her cheeks, now falling on Dick's shoulder and T-shirt. She was shaking.

Dick returned the embrace to her, rubbing circles on her back, his other hand on her head, patting her hair and soothing as possible.

She didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve Dick.

“I'm sorry,” she finally managed to let out. “I'm sorry.” Stephanie could feel the wetness on her own shoulder, on her own T-shirt. She buried her face a little more, and sobbed. “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay, sunny bird,” answered Dick quietly.

“It's not,” she protested right away. “It's really not. I'm just- I don't know. I don't know what's happening. I'm-”

“Shhh.” He kissed her head, and she sobbed once again, and she wanted it to _stop_.

“It hurts,” confessed Stephanie in the end. “It's just- Everything hurts. I... I want them back, Dick. I miss them. I, I miss Tim, and Cass, and Jay, and- I just want our family back together!”

The tears didn't stop. Dick kissed her cheek, this time, and she moved her head a little to look up at him. He was crying, too, but so silently it was kind of terrifying.

“I want that too,” he said. “I'm sorry I wasn't... I'm sorry that I didn't manage to keep everything together.”

She hugged him more fiercely. “Not your fault. They're dumb,” she murmured.

Dick breathed in a laugh, and she smiled a little. “It's complicated,” finally came out of his mouth. “Grief... Grief does that to people.”

They stayed silent. Stephanie could still remember; the news, the burial, the way her heart ached and broke, the papers under her fingers.

“He had adoption papers for me,” she let out without thinking. “I found them. In- In a notebook.”

Dick hummed, still rubbing circles on her back. It was relaxing, she realized. “I'm not surprised. He loved you, you know.”

She had. Probably. More or less. It had been complicated; their relationship.

But, yeah. In the end of the day, she had known that Bruce loved her. It was obvious in a lot of ways. It was in the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn't looking, how he always smiled at her silly jokes, how he scolded her at her mistakes while tending to her injuries; in the way he got her a car for her sixteenth birthday, opened his home to her, checked on her at night, stayed with her when she was sick, disguised himself as a supposed uncle for her parents-teachers meeting, once. It was in the way he had been there, every time she needed it, as his usual awkward-but-trying-his-best self. The one she couldn't help but associate with safety and family and _dad_.

Stephanie wished they had talked about that before. But now... it was too late, and she could never tell Bruce all these things she had in her heart.

“I know,” she confirmed simply. “I miss him.”

“Me too,” murmured Dick into her hair, and she could believe that without a problem.

Bruce had been his dad, too. And now – now Dick was carrying his entire legacy, raising his son, trying to do good in the city and by everyone, and she could see every day how hard it was on him.

She didn't know everything; but she knew enough.

“I feel lonely, sometimes,” said Dick, and it surprised Stephanie. Dick – Dick was her big brother in everything but blood and papers, and she knew him; Dick wasn't one to open his heart to anyone. He wasn't one to talk about his own feelings, more likely to dodge any question on the subject than anything else. “I'm glad you're here.”

“I'm glad to be here,” affirmed Stephanie. She pulled back from the hug to look right at him, eyes looked in his. “I'm in this with you, and I'm in this _for_ you, alright? I want to help. I... You're not forced to carry everything on your own. Just... Lay it down on me a little?”

Dick smiled and kissed her forehead. “I know. Thank you, sunny bird. I don't know what I would do without you.” His tone was back to something more light.

Stephanie wasn't sure he would listen to her. “I'm great with Damian, you know. I'm her big sis too. I can take care of him when you need it.” She had already started, a little, to try to open up the kid – but it wasn't easy. Damian was a challenge all on his own, but Stephanie Brown wasn't known to step back when presented to one.

“I'll take that into consideration,” said Dick. Then, he smirked with something malicious in his look, something like before, when he was still Nightwing and ready to cover up for her when she was pranking Bruce or Tim, back then. “You know, that sounds a lot like a custody arrangement.”

Steph couldn't help but laugh, and Dick followed her. It was stupid, and they were both messes, and breathless from a dumb joke with new tears in their eyes and an ache in their chests. But they laughed, again and again, every time they exchanged a glance, every time they tried to talk, and kept laughing until everything had been washed away. They were both on the floor by this time, shoulder against shoulder, her head against his neck and his arm around her waist.

Steph felt strangely empty now. But not in a bad way; more in a way were it allowed new, beautiful things to fill her heart with.

It wasn't good either, but – it was a start.

And a start was a beginning for everything, wasn't it? Even for healing. Even for new chances, and new possibilities, and for grief and family.

It was a beginning for making things right again; and, together, her and Dick? Steph thought they could do just that. They would be unstoppable. They were partners _and_ siblings, and they could conquer the world if they wanted too. So reuniting their family and raising a ten-year-old? That would be a piece of cake.

(They were Robins, after all.)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!! :D
> 
> I need more of Dick and Steph being siblings oof. They would be amazing siblings :c They deserve more love :c
> 
> Tomorrow we have Confession :D
> 
> Take care, a lot of love for you!!


End file.
